A healer's dream: A portrait of a guided Ñaka, local medicine in Eastern Caprivi (Namibia)
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Date
2026
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Publisher
Utrecht University; University of Namibia
Abstract
This research focus on the folk sector: the indigenous healthcare system rooted in
local culture. This study describes the illness conceptions and practices of a local healer
and the users of his care. However, the folk sector does not exist in isolation from the
professional sector. Despite the considerable differences between the folk and
professional sectors on the comparative dimensions outlined above, sick individuals
draw upon both sectors, moving back and forth between them in their search for
recovery. As we shall see, indigenous illness conceptions provide the legitimating
framework for this movement.
The professional and folk sectors come into contact through their shared users. This
research, therefore attended to the question of how this indirect relationship
manifests itself in the practice of ñaka
Description
This research was conducted within a collaborative framework between the University
of Namibia and Utrecht University (as part of the UNITWIN programme). In Namibia, I
was affiliated with the Social Science Division (SSD) of the university.
I conducted my research in Caprivi, the district in the far north-east of Namibia. Caprivi
has traditionally been divided into West Caprivi – the area west of the Kwando River
– and East Caprivi, the part to the east of that river. My research took place in the
eastern section.1
The report is structured as follows: In Chapter One, I describe the framework within
which I conducted my research. I outline the background of the study, set out the
research questions, sketch the research setting, and introduce the reader to Nelson
Mushaukwa Mutonga. In Chapter Two, I examine in depth the indigenous conceptions
of illness. I explain how these conceptions are formed and describe the principal
categories of illness causation. In Chapter Three, I discuss the practice of Nelson
Mushaukwa Mutonga. I examine how he became a healer and discuss – partly through
the description of a number of illness cases – how he diagnoses and treats the sick.
In this chapter, the role of the supernatural in his work will become evident. Chapter
Four, finally, offers concluding reflections on his practice, in which I address, among
other things, his attitude towards biomedical healthcare.
Keywords
Indigenous healthcare system, Ñaka local medicine, Eastern Caprivi, Namibia, Languages and linguistics, Healing, Care seekers, Knowledge of home remedies, Social sciences